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Tag Archives: mass effect 2

So, to get the TL;DR-type stuff out of the way: $7 US for a new character, her loyalty mission, and some loot (an SMG, a new casual outfit, a +Tech Damage upgrade).

Worth it?

If you’re starting up a new game, definitely. Kasumi is a pretty neat companion both in dialogue and combat, her mission is fun, and the new weapon quickly found a firm place in my Infiltrator’s kit.

If you’re looking to play this on your Post-Game Save and then go back to something else, I might pass on it until you revisit ME2 or there’s a sale.

Now, onwards in a relatively spoiler-free way.

Yes, that's Legion (I <3 Gibbed's Save Editor)

Kasumi, the character, is quite good. Even taking her through just an initial visit to the Citadel and Mordin’s recruitment mission I found her incidental dialogue to be some of my favorite so far. There’s a triggered piece of dialogue on Omega about the use of light that reminded me a lot of my, now, other favorite character to take around, Jack. Both characters’ statements are from the “bottom”. They’re not the usual expository lines you might get from fancy-pants characters and also not the “Ooooooooh, so shiny” crap from callow characters (who may or may not be space hicks). Both Kasumi and Jack give perspectives that usually aren’t given about places and even less often done well in my experience.

In combat her trademark ability is Shadow Strike… which is basically Shadowstep. It makes her into a very mobile, stealthy, Shotgun-type character (without the Shotgun) able to ruin people’s day down range. Her loyal power is a flashbang grenade which has seemed useful but I haven’t put much time into it (and I’m too in love with Geth Shield Boost to take it myself).

Meeting the mark.

I was pretty excited by the mission concept when they announced this DLC and my head filled with Leverage and Alias “party heist” episodes. For the most part it delivered. There wasn’t nearly as much conversation and subterfuge as I might have hoped for, but that’s been my complaint about Mass Effect 2 all along. The prerequisite “Get him to talk so we can forge his voice print” conversation was way too short, even compared to the similarly short sequence at the end of Garrus’s loyalty mission. (I did go for the Renegade dialogue option so maybe I missed out on a longer sequence.) Without spoiling anything else, the final sequence is a touch disappointing mechanically aside from an awesome cutscene with Kasumi going all Ninja Gaiden. (YouTube video if you have no plans of picking this up. The first 40 seconds is all you need.)

As for the loot: the SMG is nasty if you’re looking for a mid-range option, likely to replace the has-no-ammo-capacity heavy pistol for my Shepard. The new casual outfit will only be used occasionally, but it’s a nice touch.

Why yes, I do make this look good.

All in all, a fine excuse to start a new canonical sort-of Renegade Female Shepard that slept with Liara playthrough I’ve had on the backburner since I first finished Mass Effect 2.